For the second time this month, a community drug alert has been issued for the area by the Waterloo Region Integrated Drug Strategy (WRIDS).
The agency says two people’s deaths were suspected to be drug-related and there were 35 drug poisonings/overdoses overall between Thursday and Sunday.
“The unregulated drug supply is unpredictable, drug overdoses/poisonings may require more naloxone and unexpected reactions may occur,” a release from WRIDS warned.
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The consumption and treatment services (CTS) site in Kitchener has a drug-checking program and WRIDS says fentanyl samples have found the drug mixed with fentanyl analogues, benzodiazepines (including bromazolam and Xanax) and xylazine.
The colours of concern include red, orange, dark pink, green and grey.
“While a connection between the substances identified and the reported drug overdoses/poisonings is not known, details on these substances are included for your information,” the warning says.
An alert was also issued on May 15 after three people died over a three-day span due to drug overdoses.
As of May 13, there had been 31 suspected overdose deaths in the area, according to WRIDS. This follows on the heels of 65 deaths in 2023.
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